


Can't Save You From This

by reddish



Series: The Tiara Chronicles [3]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, F/F, Post-Noveria, sadfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-20
Updated: 2013-11-20
Packaged: 2018-01-02 05:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1052808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddish/pseuds/reddish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tara stands beside Liara in battle against her mother, and comforts her afterward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't Save You From This

"I will not be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation."

Tara shifts so that she stands between Benezia's cold words and their intended target, willing to intercept them. No daughter should be spoken to that way.

"Liara's here because she wants to be," Tara speaks quickly, deflecting the accusation. "Not because I asked her to be."

Her stance as defender keeps her from seeing the way Liara's body shifts to attention at her decisive, confident words.

* * *

 

Tara's mind is racing, desperate for anything to keep _this_ from happening. She isn't prone to panic in conflict, but there is more on the line. Liara has spoken of her mother before, and this person is a shell of the woman described. This is a relationship, not a war.

"I can't believe you'd attack your own daughter," Tara blurts out, bracing herself, hoping something lands in the heart of this stranger.

The smirk she receives makes her heart sink. As Benezia raises an arm to attack, Tara's arm instinctively reaches out to block Liara's body before her own erupts in the paralytic agony of stasis.

* * *

 

The waves of geth and commandos subside, and Tara's eyes settle on their enemy. She is panting, crouched, weak.

_Oh, no._

As they approach, Benezia stands and addresses them. Her voice wavers with exhaustion, but is steeled with determination. This is the woman Liara spoke of, though still a ghost of her true self.

Betrayals spill from her lips as she struggles, no time for pleasantries, no hope for survival. As her strength fades, the coldness returns and a cry of pain rises from her. Benezia turns in shame, in heartbreak.

Liara brushes past Tara to beg her mother to stay, and it takes every ounce of restraint Tara has to keep from holding her back, pulling her back against herself, where she can keep her safe from what must come next.

For all her cold acceptance of the differences between herself and her mother, Tara sees the loss deaden Liara's eyes.

* * *

 

"Have you been getting any rest?" Tara says quietly from the doorway of Liara's bunk in the med bay, the following day.

Liara jumps, a weak response from a tired body. "Oh, Shepard. I am not feeling up to talking just now, I... I am sorry."

"It's okay. I'm not going to bug you after this, I just... I just wanted you to know..." Tara sighs, struggling to find the words. "Nothing can prepare you for it. You're not weak for hurting. If you are. And you're not cold for not hurting, if you aren't. I just wanted you to know. It comes in waves, and it's different for everyone, and... yeah."

Liara stands and faces her, dark circles beneath her shimmering eyes. "You... how do you have the right words? Even for this?"

Tara shrugs before taking a step closer. “I lost my dad, and I tried so hard to do it right, you know? I was supposed to be ready for it, after all. He was a soldier, and… soldiers, we die. Everyone’s supposed to be braced for it, but, you never, ever can be. Not really. So I just wanted you to know that you’re okay. No matter what you’re feeling.”

Liara crosses the remainder of the distance in a few desperate steps, until her warmth is within reach. Tara extends her arms, an invitation Liara accepts with a warm, tight embrace.

“Thank you,” Liara’s voice trembles in Tara’s ears, her breath ragged.

One of Tara’s hands goes to support the back of Liara’s warm neck. “I’m just… so sorry.”

Liara’s breathing slows, but her hands shake as she places them on Tara’s back. “It is not your fault, Tara.”

“I would have saved you from it, if I could.”

“I know. That is what you seem to do best, after all. Save me.”

“You’ll pay me back someday,” Tara smiles, running her hand up and down the curve of Liara’s back slowly.

Liara’s laugh is muffled by tears and Tara’s uniform, but she hears it all the same.  “How could you possibly know that?”

“I just have a feeling.”

 


End file.
